Find Flood Risk Information In Barnegat Via New Portal

BARNEGAT, NJ — Extensive flooding is a constant threat to coastal communities. Now, flood risk information is easier for Barnegat and Waretown residents to get, through a new partnership with floodplain management platform Forerunner.

“Our community has been devastated by flood events in the past, and in many ways, we’re still recovering - even a decade after Sandy. The storms we’re seeing are becoming more frequent and more powerful, and it’s our goal to make sure that our community is set up for resiliency in the long term,” said Louis "Rico" Fischer, floodplain administrator for the Township of Ocean. “Many of our residents’ homes are at critical risk for flooding, and we’re focused on taking all the steps that we can to not only mitigate that flood risk and optimize our operations for future flooding events, but to make sure that our residents have the knowledge and resources that they need to understand and address their own risk. Partnering with Forerunner is helping to create greater efficiency and effectiveness in our work internally, and the new website is empowering our residents to make informed decisions, too.”

Forerunner delivers actionable, property-level flood risk information to streamline floodplain management, compliance, and outreach, according to a news release.

This new public resource will give residents and business owners access to flood risk data for individual properties, which in turn will make it easy for homeowners, contractors, insurance agents, realtors and more to learn about the building and insurance compliance requirements associated with each individual property, Forerunner said.

“Growing up in a coastal community, I’ve experienced firsthand just how devastating flood damage can be, and I truly believe that being prepared, informed and proactive when it comes to flood risk can make all the difference,” said Susanna Pho, co-founder and COO of Forerunner. “We’re so proud to support the work that communities like Waretown and Barnegat are doing to embrace future flood risk models and take tangible steps to reduce flood risk for their residents.”

This new resource can be found for Waretown residents at https://waretownnj.withforerunner.com/properties and to Barnegat residents at https://barnegatnj.withforerunner.com/properties.